Molding-machine.



J. MICHELE.

MOLDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 11. 1910.

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J. MICHELE.

MOLDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 11. ms.

1,291,996, Patented Jan. 21 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

5 WW4 @WM 52W UNITED STATES PATENT orrion JOHN MICHELE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-THIRD TO HERMAN W. BRANDT AND ONE-THIRD TO JOHNKUMMER, BOTH OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

MOLDING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 21, 1919.

Application filed June 17, 1918. Serial No. 240,305.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN MICHELE, a subject of the Emperor of Austria, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Molding-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in molding machines, and has particular reference to a type of automatic molding machine in which a source of power, such as a supply of water under pressure, may be employed.

The object of the invention is to provide an improved molding machine which shall be simple and convenient to manipulate, rapid, eflicient, and economical in operation, inexpensive to manufacture, and, in general, to provide an improved molding machine of the character referred to.

In the drawings accompanying this application I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention. In said drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of the machine;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same;

Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the machine;

Fig. 5 is a section taken on the line 5--5 of Fig. 1; and Fig. 6 is an enlarged View showing the details of an improved stop for temporarily arresting the movement of the upper flask.

Referring to the drawings, 10 represents a well or cylinder of concrete or other suitable material, over the upper end of which extends a slab or bed-plate 11 of cast iron, constituting the foundation for the machine, and in which are suitably secured a pair of heavy steel columns or guides 12 and 13. Said columns 12 and 13 constitute slideways for the upper flask 14 and the lower flask 15, while the pattern frame or plate 16 slides upon a third upright guide-rod 17 also secured in the said bed-plate 11.

Suitable split bearings, as indicated at 18 and 19, enable the slide-lugs of the upper and lower flasks to be suitably adiusted so that they will move freely up and down the columns 12 and 13. The pattern frame 16 is secured to a small bracket 20 by means of a screw 21, so as to enable the pattern frame to be adjusted slightly with reference to the boss 22 of said bracket 20, which slides upon the reduced upper end 23 of the rod 17.

It will be observed that the position of the pattern frame 16 is fixed by reason of the fact that the lower end of the said slideboss 22 is arrested in its downward movement by the shoulder caused by the reduction in diameter of the rod 17. By reason of the fact that the rod 23 is round, the pattern plate or frame can, be swung out through approximately 180 so as to be out of the way of the ascending or descending flasks, Whenever desired. The pattern frame is held in operative position by reason of the lug 24 resting against the side of the guide column 12. If desired, any suitable form of catch may be employed to hold the lug 24 in engagement with the said column 12.

The upper ends of the columns 12 and 13 are threaded to receive two pairs of nuts 25 used for positioning the upper head or cap 26 of the machine, said head 26 having a depending box-shaped portion 27 which is of the proper dimensions to enter within the upper end of the upper flask 14, for a purpose which will hereinafter appear. The said cap member 26 is also fitted with a pair of pedestal brackets 28 and 29 rotatably supporting a shaft 30, and on said shaft 30 are keyed a pair of sprocket wheels 31 and 32 around which are trained a pair of chains 33 and 34. The rear ends of said chains are connected to small lugs 35 projecting from the rear sides of the split bearings 18 of the lower flask, and the front ends of said chains are connected to rings 36 centrally secured at the sides of the upper flask 14, so that when either of the flasks is moved vertically, the other flask will also move vertically but in reverse direction.

Referring particularly to Fig. 3, it will be observed that the bottom flask 15 has at its lower end two or more feet or depending brackets 37 by means of which the said flask 15 is secured by bolts 38 to an annular cap 39 which forms the head of a vertical cylindrical sleeve 'piston 40, said sleeve piston 40 acting as a ram in the stationary vertical cylinder 41. Said vertical cylinder 41 has an enlargement 42 at its upper end by which it is firmly seated in the foundation block 11, the lower end of said cylinder 41 being closed by a bottom head 43 bolted to a flange 44 on the lower end of the cylinder.

The lower end of the sleeve piston 40 is provided witha bottom head or end 45 perforated, as shown at 46, in order to admit the operating fluidto the interior'of the said sleeve piston 40, within which slidesa secondary or inner piston or ram 47. On the upper end of the said inner ram 47 is fixedly mounted a solid plate 49 of the proper dimensions to reciprocate freely within the bottom flask 15 and also Within the upper flask 14 for a purpose which will hereinafterappear. The ramhead 49 constitutes a support for the removable mold plate 50.

In order: to actuate the: sleeve and its in nerram, fluid is supplied to thebottom end of the cylinder 41- through a pipe 51 which leads from a control valve: 52actuated by a handle 53. on. inspection of-Fig '.--l, it will be seen that the valve plug 54 is circular and fits rotatably within the outer casing of the valve 52, a passageway 55 being formed in the valve plug 54, so that by -.moving the handle in thedirection of the arrow 56,the passageway 55 places the pipe51-into com munication with the pressure pipe 57 to elevate the ram and piston, while, when the handle is moved in the direction oppositeto that shown by the arrow '56, the pipe 51 is placed in communication with the exhaust pipe 58, whereupon the sleeve and ram de scend in the cylinder.

Normally, the parts occupy the position showninzFigs. 1 and 3. When it is desired tomake-a mold of, for instance-,a sphere, as shown in: the figures, or other objects, the

lower flask is filledw-ith sand, and, with the the valve handle 53 is pattern in position, moved: in the direction of the arrow and pressure fluid flows into the bottom end of the cylinder. When this occurs, the outer sleeve 40 rises, carrying with it the bottom flask 15-,v but the inner ram 47 does not move upward relative to the sleeve 40, for'the reason that: the inner ram carries a considerable weight, being in itself'heavy, in addition to which there is the presence of the sand above the plate 50 and also the usual amount of frictional resistance to the rams movement- Within the sleeve piston 40. When the bottom flask 15 rises, the upper flask -14 obviously.descends,being permitted to do so by the chains 33 and 34', such movement of the flasks continuing until the upper edge of the bottom flask 15 strikesagainst the lower face of the pattern plate 16,.which is pushed into engagement with the bottom edge of, the

flask 14. The handle 53 is then turned tonormal, leaving the parts in such midway position, permitting sand to be'placed in the upper flask 14.

After the upper flask: 14 has been filled with sand, the handle 53 is again moved in the direction of the arrow 56 and the flasks and the pattern plate are eleva-tedas: a unit! by the further upward movement of the sleeve piston 40. As soon as the upper surface of the sand in the upper flask 14 engages the lower face of the stationary presser 27, the resistance to the movement of the flasks is increased considerably and the pressure in the lower end of the cylinder rises sufficiently to cause movement of the inner ram 47, which moves upwardly relative to the outersleeve piston 40.

As the resistance to movement increases, the pressure in the cylinder increasesto overcome such resistance, and both pistons become effective to compress the sand in the upper and lower flasks. hen thepressure of the fluid has moved the parts upwardly and equilibriumihas been reached, it will be Having filled the flasks and compressed;v the sand therein, with the pattern interposed between the flasks, two things are now necessary: First, to remove the'p'attern from" between the flasks, and secondly, to removethe two-part mold from the flasks. To perform the first operation, the handle 53 is simply moved over in a direction to exhaust the fluid from the bottom end of the cylinder, whereupon both rams descend to the posi: tion shown in Figs- 1 and 3, the'bottom flask 15 being depressed, and the top flask 14 being correspondingly elevated, while the pattern plate 16 is left freely suspended in between the two flasks, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, its downward movement being arrested by the shoulder on the rod 17 which engages the boss 22. The pattern having thus been freed from the molds, is swung out horizontally, after which the handle 53- is againmoved in the direction of the arrow 56 to permit fluid to enter the bottom end of the cylinder. hen this occurs the bottom flask 15 rises and the top flask 14 descends until the bottom edge of the upper flask 14 engagesthe upper end of thebottom flask15, at which time further vertical movement of the upper flask 14 is arrested by the following{ described device.

eferring to Fig. 6, it will beobserved that in one of the bearing lugs-"19 there is drilled-a cylindrical horizontal aperture 60 of sufficient diameter to accommodate a; cylindrical plunger 61', the latter being equipped with a stem 62 which extends out--' wardly through a cover plate 63 suitablyse cured to the outer face of the lug 19. The

inner end of the stem 62 is surrounded by a coil compression spring 64 which tends to force the plunger 61 inwardly against the surface of the column 12; and 'when the flask 14 has descended to the proper distance, said plunger 61 will enter a small cylindrical recess 65 drilled in the side of said column, thereby arrestin further movement of the upper flask 14. ormally, unless it is desired to arrest the movement of the upper flask 14, the plunger 61 is prevented from entering the said aperture 65 by a fixed pin 66 set into the face of the lug 19, the outer end of said pin engaging the inner face of a head 67 secured on the end, or forming a part, of the stem 62. An aperture 68 is drilled at one side of said head 67 so that when desired the stem can be turned to bring said aperture 68 into register with the pin 66 so as to permit the plunger 61 to be moved inwardly by the spring 60 into the recess 65. After the flasks l4 and 15 have been locked against further vertical n'ioven'lent, by reason of the locking device just described, the. movement of the outer sleeve piston 40 is thus arrested, and, as fluid continues to enter the cylinder, the ram 47 moves upwardly carrying with it the mold-supporting plate 50 and the lower and upper parts of the completed mold resting thereon. Finally after the ram has elevated the mold sufliciently to expose the mold-supporting plate 50 above the upper edge of the flask 14, the control handle 53 is moved back to normal and the completed mold can be removed.

Subsequently, by means of the handle 53, the fluid is exhausted from the lower end of the cylinder and the plunger 61, having been withdrawn, the flasks are permitted to return to their norm-a1 positions, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

In view of the fact that the described details of construction may be modified considerably, without sacrifice of efliciency or losing the benefits of the invention, it will be understood that the embodiment herein described is intended to be merely illustrative of one application of my invention, the scope of which should be determined by reference to the appended claims.

I :Cltlllllr- 1. In a molding machine, the combination of vertically extending guiding means, an upper and a lower flask vertically movable along said guiding means, a pattern capable of being interposed between and vertically movable with said flasks, a pulley rotatably supported above the upper flask, a flexible, substantially inextensible member trained over said pulley and having its ends respectively secured to the upper and lower flasks, a. presser member stationarily supported above the upper flask and adapt ed to enter the upper end thereof, means for raising the lower flasks whereby said upper flask is correspondingly depressed, a \er tically movable pressure plate adapted to enter the bottom end of said bottom flask, means for raising said pressure plate, and means for locking said upper flask against movement whereby movement of saidpressure plate becomes effective to discharge a completed mold.

2. In a molding machine, the combination of a movable upper flask, a movable lower flask, guiding means for causing said flasks to move vertically, means linking said flasks together to cause the same to move in opposite directions when the lower flask is raised or lowered, a piston for moving said lower flask, a pressure plate forming the bottom of said lower flask, a second piston for moving the said pressure plate in said lower flask, and cylinder mean for containing a supply of pressure fluid acting simultaneously on said pistons.

3. In a molding machine, the combination of a movable upper flask, a movable lower flask, guiding means for causing said flasks to move vertically, means linking said flasks together to cause the same to move in opposite directions when the lower flask is raised or lowered, a piston for moving said lower flask, a pressure plate forming the bot tom of said lower flask, a second piston for moving the said pressure plate in said lower flask, cylinder means for said pistons, and a single conduit for conducting a supply of pressure fluid to or discharging the same from said cylinder means simultaneously.

4. In a molding machine, the combination of a movable upper flask, a movable lower flask, guiding means for causing said flasks to move vertically, means linking said flasks together to cause the same to move in opposite directions when the lower flask is raised or lowered, a piston for moving said lower flask, a pressure plate forming the bottom of said lower flask, a second piston for movin said pressure plate in said lower flask, cyinder means for said pistons, a single conduit for conducting a supply of pressure fluid to or discharging the same from said cylinder means simultaneously, and means for controlling the flow of pressure fluid into or out of said conduit.

5. In a molding machine, the combination of a vertically movable lower flask, an upper flask mechanically linked to said lower flask to move in unison therewith but in reverse direction, a pressure plate constituting a movable bottom for said lower flask, a cylinder, and a pair of pistons telescopically mounted in said cylinder and connected, one to the lower flask and the other to said plate.

6. In a molding machine of the class described, the combination of a pair'of vertical guide columns, a pair of molding flasks mounted to slide vertically along said columns, a cap piece supported by said its ends respectively connected to the flasks,

a presser depending from said cap piece and adapted to enter the upper end of the upper flask, means for locking said upper flask against vertical movement, a pressure" plate mounted to move vertically in and consti tute a bottom closure for said bottom' fla'sk,

nae new a" vertical cylinder beneath said bottom 10 flask and havingan annular piston thereinconnected to said bottom flaskyand an inner piston member slidably mounted in said said pressure plate.

JOHN MICHELE Copies of' this patent may be obtained m frvefcents each; by addressing the Commissioner of Patents; Washingtomfll); Q. 

